Credit: Ian Georgeson

Sauna Theatre is the hottest new venue as part of Summerhall Arts' 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme. 

Dreamt up by director James Grieve and designer Lucy Osborne,  who previously designed and launched Paines Plough’s Roundabout, Sauna Theatre brings together an ambitious programme of theatre, literature, music and Aufguss (an immersive experience using heat, essential oils, towel work and storytelling); all within the soothing heat of sauna. 
 
This August, some of the world’s greatest Aufguss artists will visit Edinburgh to perform theatrical sauna rituals that will move and delight audiences while the heat soothes bodies and minds. Aufguss merges with theatre, spoken word, music and literature in a programme that introduces sauna as a new space in which to tell stories and take audiences on magical journeys. Sauna Theatre is for everyone, being the largest sauna in the UK at an 80 person capacity and hosting a diverse programme catering to both sauna regulars and culture vultures. From morning raves to mysterious stories of ancient Scotland, the return of Nick Cassenbaum’s sell-out hit Bubble Schmeisis (Remixed) to Virginia Woolf reimaginings, audiences can simply pop on their swimsuits and (cold) plunge into the Fringe like never before.
  
SHOWS ANNOUNCED 
 
•    Get Set For The Day Sauna Session Sauna Session Arts Club
The best way to start your day: relax and recharge with chilled tunes and good vibes in our beautiful theatre sauna. Treat yourself to delicious heat. You’re looking HOT today.
 
•    Morning Sauna Rave Sauna Session Arts Club
Welcome to the hottest dancefloor in town. Our DJs serve blissed-out beats as you flow between the ecstatic heat of our theatre sauna and a bracing plunge in our ice baths. Start your day with pure endorphins.
 
•    Bubble Schmeisis (Remixed) Nick Cassenbaum
Nick Cassenbaum’s sell out Fringe hit is back… in a sauna! Amidst the steam, live klezmer and ritual, Nick’s search for the place he belongs conjures Canning Town Schvitz in our beautiful theatre sauna. One hot ticket.
 
•    Lunch Break Luxuriate Lit Salon Sauna Session Arts Club
A Literary Salon in a sauna. Mellifluous phrases, magical worlds and radical ideas float in the heat as stories unspool in steam. Lie back, listen in and leave inspired. Literature has never been this hot. 
 
•    Aufguss x The Waves Sauna Sessions Arts Club
A bewitching reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece in a sauna. Woolf’s exquisite story refracted through dance, heat, scent, sound and light for a truly immersive experience that feels like falling in love on a summer afternoon.
 
•    Mysteries of the Picts Sauna Sessions Arts Club
Smoke, scent and steam conjure the sweathouses of ancient Scotland and the mysterious painted Picts who gathered there. In a state-of-the-art theatre sauna, ancient rituals and stories uncover the traditions that history forgot, forged in heat.
 
•    International Aufguss Masters Sauna Sessions Arts Club
Experience the world’s greatest Aufguss artists right here in Edinburgh. Stunning choreography and extraordinary storytelling using steam and scent in a beautiful theatre sauna. Two different artists every day with line-ups announced in advance on our socials.
 
•    Sauna Sessions Arts Club - The Hottest Club In Town Sauna Sessions Arts Club
You, your mates, hot sauna, cold plunge, DJs plus a host of special guests. Theatre, comedy, and much more wrapped in a big fat party. The coolest/hottest club in town. 

http://www.saunatheatre.com/
https://www.summerhallarts.co.uk/